Warren Dean Barton (born 19 March 1969) is an English football coach, pundit, and former professional player. As of 2023, he works as a director and youth coach for the Del Mar Carmel Valley Sharks, a youth club in San Diego, California, United States.
As a player, Barton was a defender who notably played in the Premier League for Wimbledon and Newcastle United. He also played in the Football League for Maidstone United, Derby County and Queens Park Rangers, as well as for non-league side Dagenham & Redbridge. He was capped 3 times by England.
Following retirement, he has worked in consultancy roles with Brighton & Hove Albion and San Diego Flash. He also spent a period coaching the Los Angeles Galaxy under-18 side. Barton continues to reside in the United States and is a television pundit for Fox Sports.
Club career
Born in Stoke Newington, London, Barton started his league career with Maidstone United, after joining from Dagenham who negotiated for three players and a manager, John Still to move the other way.
Despite some defensive weaknesses, he gained attention from clubs playing in higher tiers of English football due to his ability to move forward at speed up the flank with the ball and place the ball in the box accurately.
During this period, Barton had a 'day job' working in the mailroom at the London offices of accounting firm, Arthur Andersen.
Wimbledon
Barton was transferred to First Division side Wimbledon on 7 June 1990, his £300,000 transfer fee being the largest sum paid for a Fourth Division player at the time. However, Maidstone were sliding into a serious financial crisis at this time and his sale did little to improve matters, although it would be another two years before financial problems finally forced them out of business and cost them their place in the Football League.
Barton walked straight into the Wimbledon first team, missing just one league game in the 1990–91 season as they finished seventh. His first game was in the 3–0 defeat at home to Arsenal on the opening day of the season.
He remained a regular fixture at right-back for the rest of his time there, despite playing under three different managers; Ray Harford (July 1990 – October 1991), Peter Withe (October 1991 – January 1992) and finally Joe Kinnear.
During his time at Wimbledon he was instrumental in keeping them in the Premiership, and quickly became one of the most highly rated defenders in England. However, Barton had the most successful spell of his career with the Dons after they moved him into midfield, where his accurate passing set up many goals for the Crazy Gang's forwards.
Wimbledon were widely regarded as the smallest club in the top flight, traditionally having the lowest crowds and the smallest budget to spend on players, but they managed to avoid relegation year after year, more often than not by a comfortable margin, at a time when bigger clubs like Nottingham Forest went down. Barton helped them finish sixth in 1994 – the best finish in their history.
Newcastle United
On 5 June 1995, Barton became the most expensive defender in English football when he moved to Newcastle United for £4 million, joining "The Entertainers" being assembled by Kevin Keegan. Everything looked rosy for Barton, and a few England caps followed, his classy, comfortable style on the ball earned him a reputation as a true footballing full-back. His attacking role under Keegan however meant he did not always suit the national team and he did not make too many more appearances for England.
He made his debut on 19 August 1995, when the Magpies beat Coventry City 3–0 at St James' Park. He played 31 times that season, and by Christmas it was looking certain that he would be collecting a league title medal as the Magpies had a 10-point lead over Manchester United at the top of the Premier League. However, when the Magpies lost 1–0 at home to the Old Trafford side on 4 March 1996, the lead had been cut to a single point and soon afterwards they were overhauled, having to settle for second place in the final table.
Over the next two seasons, Barton's first team opportunities were more limited as manager Kevin Keegan and his successor Kenny Dalglish (who took over in January 1997) chose Steve Watson as a right back more frequently.
However, Watson's move to Aston Villa in October 1998 saw Barton return to the right-back position on a more regular basis under new manager Ruud Gullit, and he was still the club's first choice player in this position in 2000–01, by which time the Magpies were being managed by the former England boss Bobby Robson.